Kenyan Athlete Brigid Kosgei Set a New World Marathon Record
Kenyan athletes are on a record-breaking winning streak.
This past weekend, the 2019 Chicago Women's Marathon took place. Twenty-five-year-old Kenyan athlete Brigid Kosgei finished the marathon with a time of 2 hours, 14 minutes and 4 seconds, breaking the world record set sixteen years ago by Paula Radcliffe. Kosgei's impressive time was an entire six-and-a-half minutes ahead of Ethiopia's Ababel Yeshaneh who placed second ahead of Ethiopian runner, Gelete Burka, who then placed third, according to the BBC.
Radcliffe, the former world record-holder, was at the finish line to witness Kosgei break her longstanding record and congratulate the athlete on her victory. Speaking about Kosgei's win, Radcliffe said that, "We always knew the time was going to come and when I saw how fast Brigid was running in the first half of race I knew if she was going to hold it together she would do it. It was exactly 17 years ago today that I set my first world record in Chicago. That was a very special day for me and it is a very special day for Brigid today."
It has been a spectacular time for Kenyan runners these past couple of weeks. Most recently, Kenyan Olympic champion, Eliud Kipchoge, made history as he became the first athlete ever to finish a marathon in under two hours with a time of 1 hour, 59 minutes and 40 seconds. Describing his feat, Kipchoge said that, "It has taken 65 years for a human being to make history in sport. I am the happiest man to run under two hours. I am here to inspire everyone that it can be done."
Additionally, Kenyan Athlete, Geoffrey Kamworor, broke the Half Marathon World Record in Copenhagen last month. He beat the previous record set (unsurprisingly) by fellow Kenyan athlete, Abraham Kiptum, by 17 seconds.
